It is common to suggest that when Jesus was on the cross, that the Father turned his back on Jesus. There are two arguments for this, both of which I think are wrong.
The first argument is that Jesus quotes Psalm 22, where it talks about God forsaking him. The problem with this is that Jesus was not the first say these words. They were written by David. This Psalm entered into the worship of Israel and expressed the feelings of worshippers in times of distress. There is no reason to believe that David or any of the other Israelites who recited this Psalm were ever completely cut off from the presence of God.
The second argument is that Jesus took on the sin of the world and since God is holy, he could not look upon his Son. The problem is that the Bible never says this. The other problem is that God never turns away from sin in other circumstances. The world has always been full of sin and yet God continues to look upon us.
We must be careful not to argue doctrines that are not taught in the Bible.
- crucifixion
- Easter
- Jesus
- Lent
- Psalm 22
- Sin
